Tokyo Olympics: Dina Asher-Smith eyeing relay redemption as Britain chase 4x100m medal
The 25-year-old pulled out of the 200m and failed to reach the 100m final last week after suffering a hamstring injury in June.
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Your support makes all the difference.Dina Asher-Smith insisted she has moved on from her Olympic agony and is eyeing relay redemption after returning to the track.
The 25-year-old saw her Games wrecked by a hamstring injury she suffered in June and pulled out of the 200 metres after failing to reach the 100m final last week.
She made her comeback on Thursday to help the 4x100m relay team set a new British record of 41.55 seconds to win their heat and reach the final.
The world 200m champion said: “It (winning a medal) would be absolutely amazing but again that is not the thing I think about right now. It is about staying focused.
“That is where my head has been for the past week. It hasn’t been in what happened. It hasn’t been about the 100m or 200m. It has been about me getting back on the training track and making sure I bring my absolute A-game to this race.
“Of course, it (a medal) would mean incredible things to everybody. We are the bronze medallists in Rio. It would be amazing for us to get another medal again, for all of us, for all of our lives, for all of our individual dreams and aspirations.
“To get that we have to stay focused and make sure we execute and do what needs to be done.
“After the 100m I did say there was no way I wasn’t going to be here for the 4x100m girls. I only had one day off then John (Blackie, coach) had me back on the training track.
“Essentially all I need is a few more weeks and sessions. He was saying if I had a few more days it would have been the 100m final, another week and it would have been 10.8. It’s one of those things where I’m chasing times.”
The British team qualified for Friday’s final fastest, ahead of the USA and Germany and Asha Philip, a member of the squad who won bronze in Brazil, believes they will challenge again.
“A medal is definitely on the cards for us. I never like to jinx it but seeing that and the time…,” she said, with Imani-Lara Lansiquot and Daryll Neita completing the squad.
“I saw Dina get the baton and she is sprinting round that bend and we know how great she is on that top bend. Daryll was capable of bringing it home.
“It was a good race, a nice warm-up for us. We were up at 4am, on the 6.40am bus and started warming up at 7.30am. All these times we haven’t seen in a while.
“It was great for us and to come out with that time, it gives us energy and we’re going to come out tomorrow with the same energy.”
The men’s 4x100m relay team finished second in their heat to reach the final.
CJ Ujah, Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, Richard Kilty and Zharnel Hughes clocked 38.02 seconds.
Kilty said: “We want to win every heat. We are that good. We want to win the heat, we want to win the final. We are going to win the final.
“We know what we have got to do to win it. There is more in the tank. We are going for the gold.”
Andrew Pozzi came seventh in the 110m hurdles final – which was won by Jamaica’s Hansle Parchment.
Morgan Lake also reached the high jump final after clearing the automatic qualifying height of 1.95m.